Mexican Influence on North American
Filmography Predates the "Talkies".

Ramon Novarro Silent Film Star Rises to Fame

"Ramon Novarro was America's first Latin Lover on

screen. But one imprisoned by his weaknesses"

Ramon Novarro

Biography of the Silent Film Idol

1899-1968 with Filmography

By: Allan R. Ellenberger

Foreword by Kevin Brownlow

272 pp. $42.50 library binding

Photographs, filmography, index, Notes.

Published by: Mcfarland &

Company, 1999 Jefferson, No.

Carolina, 28640

ISBNB 0-7864-0099-4

Ramon Novarro in his finest and best-remembered
role as Judah Ben-Hur in "Ben-Hur" (1926, MGM)

By: Dan Muñoz
Staff writer

"My childhood was happy," Ramon (Samaniego) Novarro
was to recall in later life. Born in February 6, 1899, in Durango,
Mexico. He was the second son of a wealthy dentist, Dr. Mariano
N. Samaniego, who was born in Juárez, Mexico and attended
school in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Dr Samaniego was to earn his
degree in Dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania after
which he moved to Durango, Mexico where he was successful in his
Practice.

Ramon Novarro's mother, the beautiful Leonor Gavilan was a
mixture of Spanish and Aztec blood. Family leyendas claim that
her Aztec lineage could be traced to Guerrero, a prince of Moctezuma
(Guerrero - Meaning: he was strong in war).

Ramon's life in Mexico was shorten when the `revolution' to
overthrow the dictatorship of General Porfirio Díaz in
1910, begin to impact on their lives. In 1913, the revolution
began in earnest to overthrow of the Dictator General Victoriano
Huerta, an unscrupulous, immoral person who took possession of
the presidency. The end of the Samaniego life in Mexico was coming
to an end. As members of the privileged class, their days were
numbered. Eventually Ramon (Samaniego) would arrive in Los Angeles,
November 25 (Thanksgiving Day), 1915.

The Silent Movie Industry

"I found myself in Hollywood going from one studio to
another looking for a job... I interviewed with every casting
director in town, only to receive the same reply, No!," said
Novarro in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1965.

As a child, Ramon received a privileged education in Mexico
that included the arts, piano, voice. At age 8, he received a
marionette theater and from there on spent his time producing
plays for the neighborhood children. From that day on, he had
the acting and singing bug. He had determined that this would
be his life's work.

His arrival in Hollywood did not go exactly as he thought it
should. In Hollywood he was just another person with the acting
but there wasn't many openings in the silent movie days. Ramon
was only 16 years old and the only work he could find were jobs
as a grocery clerk, busboy, a cafe singer, model, an usher and
playing bit parts at the Majestic Theater Stock Company at $10
a week. His first break in the silent-movies came as an extra
in the movie "Joan the Woman" (1917). This opened the
door to other bit parts until he came to the attention of Director
Rex Ingram and he had a lead part in "The Prisoner of
Zanda" in 1922. Rudolph Valentino's replacement had arrived!

Ramon changed his name to Novarro and his movie life
as a romantic lover was launched.

A flurry of movies followed which propelled Novarro to stardom.
He was featured in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Where
the Pavement Ends, and Scaramouche (1923) which cost over
one million to make. Scaramouche was a major success and
in the process confirming Ramon Novarro as a major star, all without
sound except the pianola that played in each theater and the written
script that appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Probably the best silent picture Novarro made was Ben-Hur.
The movie waspraised by Variety as"The
greatest achievement that had been accomplished on the screen."
It proclaimed that "Ramon Novarro had been made for
all time by his performance." Novarro was "Ben Hur"
to moviegoers long before Charlton Heston came on the scene!

1927 - Birth of Talking Pictures

With the advent of sound many of the stars of the silent era
failed to make the transition. Many did not have suitable voices
for sound. Anyone with a speech impediment or heavy accents was
out. When it came to Ramon Novarro, some of the executives questioned
whether he could make the switch. "He can sing , play the
guitar but what about his accent, they asked?" Others reasoned:
"He has always played roles as a foreign i.e. Ben Hur,The Prince of Judah. We will cast him in films where he
will speak in an accent". They were unwilling to cut their
top star loose!

Ramon Novarro was one of the few stars of the silent
films that managed to cross over and become a star of the first
magnitude in sound films. Unlike the other stars of the silent
movie epoch, Novarro was also an acclaimed singer. He had been
honored for his singing at Hollywood and had performed in some
of the top opera houses in Europe, Mexico and the United States.
He was thrilled at the thought of performing in talking movies.
"Only in talking pictures," he said," "can
opera be made possible to the masses."

The Pagan (29) produced by Metro Goldwyn-Mayer, a musical
costume drama Ramon Novarro had the lead singing and speaking
parts! From that beginning there was to be no stopping Novar-ro.
There followed films such as: In Gay Madrid (1930), Call
of TheFlesh (1930), The Outriders (1950), Heller
in Pink Tights (1960), to name a few. There was no stopping
Novarro except himself.

Before Novarro's tragic ending,
he had one more hurdle to clear: Television. As he aged, alcoholism
took more and more control of his body and little by little he
was dropped by the side. The studios were hesitant to commit millions
of dollars on an aging movie star who was spending more and more
of his time drinking. Nevertheless he was still marqueematerial
and in 1952 he was invited to appear in the Ed Sullivan's Toast
of The Town variety program. There followed Ken Murray's
Blackout, 1952, another variety program. Walt Disney Presents
in 1958, HeddaHopper's Hollywood, 1960. Then followed
appearances in television dramas in which he had small parts such
as Combat (1964), Rawhide (1964), Dr.Killdare,
(1964), Bonanza (1965), The Wild Wild West (1967) and finally
High Chaparral (1968).

Novarro in one of his last guest-starring
roles on the television show "The
Wild Wild West" (1967)

The Tragic End

Unbeknown to the legion of fans, and admirers, that adored
Ramon Novarro, he had lived with a deep, dark secret. It was known
by the studio bosses, his family, and a very few of his closed
friends, but it had never been made public until his brutal murder
in 1968.

We live his tragic ending to rest between the covers of his
book. It must be shared along with his glories and his accomplishments
and understood in the context of this Biography by Allan R. Ellenberger.

To the modern day Latinos and Mexican Americans, this book
can perhaps be helpful to you in understanding our history. As
in other aspects of our existence, on this earth, Roman Novarro
is but one more example of our `Gente' who have survived and triumphed
against adversity.